Mad Cowboy

Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won’t Eat Meat by Howard F. Lyman and Glen Merzer

This was a pivotal book for me in my baby-stepping toward a plant-based diet. Howard Lyman’s story is told with humility and truth. He was a cattleman, so his story is compelling in that he didn’t really want to learn what he did, but once he learned it, he couldn’t pretend he hadn’t. This is the dude who got Oprah in so much hot water with the Texans. Karen and I were lucky enough to meet Howard at a VegFest in Denver a couple of years ago. He’s passionate about what he believes and his “good ol’ boy” no-nonsense way about it him is in nice contrast to some of the weirdos out there who are so over the top they end up being off-putting. If you’re edging toward making a change away from dependence on meat, this book will help seal the deal for sure.

Description from Amazon.com:
Howard Lyman’s testimony on The Oprah Winfrey Showrevealed the deadly impact of the livestock industry on our well-being. It not only led to Oprah’s declaration that she’d never eat a burger again, it sent shock waves through a concerned and vulnerable public.A fourth-generation Montana rancher, Lyman investigated the use of chemicals in agriculture after developing a spinal tumor that nearly paralyzed him. Now a vegetarian, he blasts through the propaganda of beef and dairy interests — and the government agencies that protect them — to expose an animal-based diet as the primary cause of cancer, heart disease, and obesity in this country. He warns that the livestock industry is repeating the mistakes that led to Mad Cow disease in England while simultaneously causing serious damage to the environment.

Persuasive, straightforward, and full of the down-home good humor and optimism of a son of the soil, Mad Cowboy is both an inspirational story of personal transformation and a convincing call to action for a plant-based diet — for the good of the planet and the health of us all.